A Q45 Guy's Take On The Murano

[Haitian_King]

Well,

A few days ago, I was afforded the chance to drive a 2009 Murano. I promptly took it and drove 850+ miles. (To Canada)

I must say, rides very well. I'm not too well versed in Murano mechanics, but I assume I had the CVT? If that's what it was, I'm a fan. Lots of pep with minimal shift shock. It came as a surprise to me as I'm used to a drink spilling 1-2 shift.

The biggest con for me was the interior. Yuck. Talk about spartan. Reminds me of the Mazda CX-7 and CX-9 interiors.

Oh well. I just wanted to share my experience with Murano vets. I'll go back to my side of the NICO world now. Sorry for the intrusion.

[Bunshaw]

Haitian_King, you're right, it was a CVT. It's all the Murano has offered since it's inception. There should have essentially been NO shift shock although I think the 2nd-gen CVT does try to mimic it a little bit sometimes.

Can you elaborate on the lacking of the interior a bit more? The window sticker on my '09 reads almost like an Infiniti EX35. Admittedly a base one but it really depends on the options like any vehicle. The range for the Murano in price w/ options is something like $14k so two different people can have very different Murano's feature-wise depending on their option choices. If you had a rental for example then it was probably an S model, did it even have a leather interior? The double-stitched gathered leather adds quite a touch all on its own without getting to the techno-gadgets. If you indeed had the S model then I have to agree, pretty basic, pretty plain jane.

[Timmbo]

I would agree, if he had an "S", the interior is a bit cheaper inside, there are less controls and obviously less on the screen. My sister had an S as a rental when she was in town, and compared to my LE, it was night and day difference, the interior on the LE is much like and FX or an EX.

[Haitian_King]

Yes. That explains it. I did have an S. I really liked the ride though. I must try one of the more top end models.

[Timmbo]

Not to mention you get 20's on the LE!

[Bunshaw]

Yep, I really like the interior on my SL too but its loaded. They carry the aluminum trim theme from the console throughout the rest of the vehicle and it really brings the design together.

Just for kicks, I pulled the brochure on the S and no wonder you thought it was simple. It is! There aren't even many options available for it at all. I'm not even sure what a basic S interior would look like with so many features unavailable.

[Timmbo]

I think that is one of the reasons the Murano is such a success. There is truly a very broad price range. You can get a basic model, or one with the features of an Infiniti with 20" rims. I didn't even realize that my rear seats were heated as well until a week after I had the Murano in my garage.